The Switch
by S.N.Soldier
Summary: Heatwave and Dani are both crippled by guilt and responsibility when a disaster leaves Blades offline and Taylor in a coma... with a twist...
1. Chapter 1

"Ugh, what is with humans and large outdoor displays that don't hold up against the weather?" Heatwave grumbled under his breath. For the third time this week, they had been dispatched to rescue a 20 foot tall Easter bunny with a propensity for tipping over whenever the wind blew.

"It's a holiday thing. Bigger, brighter, better." Replied Kade.

"You forgot gaudier."

"Eh. To each his own. Just wait til you all see Christmas. You haven't seen gaudy until you see what old Mr. McGurnkle does to his house each year. I'm pretty sure that the whole thing can be seen from the international space station each year."

Heatwave shook his head in resignation before he reverted to vehicle mode, the driver's side door swinging open for his partner. "You almost sound proud to know him. I don't see the appeal. It's just a waste of energy that could go to better uses."

"I guess you have to grow up with these traditions to really understand." Kade shrugged as he climbed into Heatwave's cab. "Hey Code, Heatwave and I are finished down here. Anything come in that's worthier of my skills?"

_/Nothing yet Kade. Graham just got back, and Dad and Chase are still at the marina warning everyone about the storm. It's supposed to hit Griffin Rock sometime in the next hour./_

"Great. Let's head back before we turn into a couple of drowned rats."

"That's the first thing you've said today that I can agree with."

* * *

><p>"Ah... ah... CHOO!"<p>

Chase paused before the hanger lift and turned his optics back to kitchen doorway. "Chief, are you becoming ill again? Will you be requiring more of the tissues made of paper to absorb the excess fluid spillage from your sinus cavities?"

Chief Burns shook his head and hung up his dripping coat before responding. "It's just the cold combined with the damp. Rain just seems to make any day feel a lot colder than it actually is."

"I can assure you that the temperature measurements have been experiencing standard deviations that are within the statistically probable variances for a normal day."

Chief chuckled as he pulled off his boots. "I believe you, partner. There's just nothing quite like trying to convince people to leave their homes by the shore. It doesn't matter how many disasters they see on the news... They all think that it won't happen to them, but expect us to be there instantly when it actually does."

"That is highly illogical. If one is aware of a danger prior to encountering it, then the proper course of action would be the avoid it. This would eliminate all risk of injury or property damage."

"Heh. Yes, that's true. Unfortunately, logic and reason aren't some peoples' strong suits."

"I neglect to see how the donning of formal attire is in any way related to logic or reason. Also, is it even feasible to categorize a garment as being strong?"

"It's... complicated." Chief chuckled and gazed back towards the window. "I used to love these storms when the kids were little. When we all lived back on the mainland, our house had this great wraparound porch. I would walk around the porch with all the lights off, holding one of them in my arms, and we would count the lightning."

"Really Dad? With me too?"

With a smile, Chief took the towel Cody had brought to him and rubbed his hair. "I'm afraid you weren't born yet Cody. You came along after I had taken a job here as deputy. I wish I could have... but you are the only one who was carried around the observatory during a storm. Kade used to spend all his time there dreaming about being an astronaut, and he would take you with him sometimes when you were little."

"Noble... I didn't know that Kade was into outer space..."

Chief chuckled. "That he was... and there was a time when Dani wanted to be a prima ballerina, and Graham wanted to be a fireman. I wasn't quite expecting Kade to pick that one up from him. Kade used to tease him about it that it wasn't a 'cool' job like being an astronaut was. Speaking of the family, where is everyone?"

Cody pulled himself up to sit on the counter before responding. "Heatwave and Boulder are in the hanger, and Graham is in the shower. He kind of came back looking like a mudman. I think Kade is in the TV room."

"Good. Glad their back home safe. How about Dani and Blades?"

"They finished at the shipping docks, but now they're at the airfield helping Tayor. Some sort of big shipment of tech that he was supposed to transport to the mainland before they grounded all non-emergency flights. I guess he needed help to get it all secured."

"Or maybe he just wanted a better view while doing the job." Kade snarked, his broad frame leaning up against the doorframe. "The truth will be all over little sis's face when she gets back in."

"Stop teasing your sister, Kade, and yes... _Planning_ to tease your sister counts just the same. Hopefully there's nothing out there that will get ruined by the rain. None of us were expecting that storm front to make it so far north before making landfall."

"Well, hopefully Blades can avoid getting himself busted up in this storm. If they have to walk home in this rain they'll be swimming before they make it halfway here."

"Cody, why don't you head back up to dispatch and see if you can get her on the line. I want you all safe under this roof as soon as possible in this weather."

"Sure thing, Dad."

"I will check in with Heatwave and Boulder. Perhaps they have received an update from Blades which we have not."

Chief nodded in approval. "Sure thing Chase. Keep me posted."

* * *

><p>Downstairs in the hanger, Heatwave smashed a clenched servos into the large nevatear bag that hung from the ceiling beams. "Updates? Not a one."<p>

"Perhaps this is some cause for concern."

"More like relief." Heatwave muttered as he landed another blow into the heavy bag. "You know how Blades carries on when he has to fly in anything other than the most perfect of weather conditions."

"He might be right about that this time. That sky is remarkably dark. I heard Graham warning people to stay away from windows in case they get knocked in by downed trees. In a way, it's strangely beautiful." Boulder never fully turned to face them while he spoke. His optics were mesmerized by dangerous beauty of the storm building up outside the window.

"Blades just needs to bot up. It's not like his paint will wash off or he'll rust in place. Maybe for once he's just getting the job done and focusing like he should. But if it will make you worrybots feel better, I'll see if the main comm will bring him up."

"You know, I think he's just too proud to admit that he's worried too." Boulder remarked after the firebot had left the room and Chase had come over by the window to stare outside at the worsening weather with him.

"I am certain that is the case. However it is neither productive nor beneficial to postulate on potential reasons for lack of contact rather than conduct a proper investigation. For instance, Chief may very well have lost his life when we became trapped in the old mines had no one properly investigated our route and reason for radio silence a few months back."

"That's true, but on the bright side, I don't think even Dani would be able to convince Blades to go into a mine or the like in this weather. I bet it's just interference from the storm, and they will both be walking in any minute now. I know! Why don't we get the dryers ready and put one of his favorite shows on for when he gets back!"

"Agreed. This should help to alleviate his mood over the weather when he returns. I have read that positive thinking holds remarkable powers to improve both emotional status or debilitating illnesses. This appears to be an ideal time to test this proclamation."

When Heatwave stepped off the lift some time later, he found Kade already hovering by the door, wearing his heavy rain coat and boots. For once, he was completely unable to maintain his normally aloof and cool demeanor, and was nervously fidgeting as he paced back and forth in front of the door, anxiously waiting for it to open.

"I take it you haven't heard anything from Bades or Dani either, huh?"

"Not a peep... It's not like Dani to not check in... But Dad wants to wait a bit longer before letting us go out for them."

"So they can be extra drenched?"

"Nah..." The firebot's expression darkened. He could see right through Kade's weak attempt to alleviate his concern. "He just thinks they might have hunkered down with Taylor to wait out the storm, that's all. With the lightning, the comms just aren't as reliable as they normally are, and Taylor is all the way on the other side of the island after all."

Heatwave groaned in exasperation. "So we assume nothing went wrong, even though we all think something's gone wrong?"

"No. We assume they're safe until we know otherwise. I'm not risking all of your lives for an emergency that may not even exist. Dani and Blades are both experienced rescuers. If I can trust Blades to keep my daughter safe, I think you should be able to do the same and trust her to watch out for him as well." Chief Burns' voice was unusually terse. He kept his back towards them the entire time he spoke, as he poured himself another cup of coffee from the pot on the counter.

"Trust has nothing to do with this..." Heatwave growled. "Our comm is stronger than yours, and I still can't raise Blades. Our tech doesn't react to interference the same way yours does. If I can raise Optimus, I should be able to raise Blades."

"C'mon Dad... That's a red flag if ever I heard one!"

Chief Burns sighed again, and this time there was no mistaking the worry in his eyes and voice as he turned to face them. "Alright... but take the high roads through downtown, not the cliff route. Those roads are more likely to flood."

"Gotcha!"

"And be... careful..." The chief's voice trailed off when he realized he was speaking to an empty room. Kade hadn't wasted a second in bolting out the door, Heatwave hot on his heels. The duo was in such a rush, the door hung half open, and the rain was already pooling inside the doorway. It was reassuring to see how much Kade cared for his sister, but at the same time, now he was going to have two children out in a tropical storm and unaccounted for. He hesitated for a moment in the doorway, oblivious to the cold rain that was wetting his face.

For some reason, closing the door now, had an ominously final feeling to it.

* * *

><p>"C'mon partner, I'm counting on you to have a lead foot!" Kade shouted over the wind as he scrambled into the cab and fastened his safety belt.<p>

"I don't have any lead components, so you're out of luck."

"It's an expression... It just means to go fast."

"That, I can definitely be counted on for."

With a squeal of tires and a plume of splash back, the fire engine roared down the mountain road towards the airfield. When they arrived, Kade hurried out of the cab to pull the chain link gate open.

"Damn I can't see six inches in front of my face in this rain... How're you?"

"I already adjusted my optic settings to compensate for the darkness. Where were they supposed to be working?" Leaning down, Heatwave scooped Kade up and raised him to his lowered chest plate so he could take shelter in the cab.

"The third bunker on the right side of the first runway before the helipad is his personal bunker. That cargo should have been there."

"Gotcha." Heatwave scanned what to Kade seemed like oppressive darkness, then took off running.

"See anything?"

"Not yet... wait... Blades!" Heatwave's relief faded fast when no there was no reply forthcoming from his team mate. Blades was just kneeling there, his back towards them, one arm draped over a stack of crates.

"Blades! Blades pay attention!" The strangest feeling welled up in the firebot's engines as he reached out and gripped his friend's shoulder. To his horror, instead of turning to face him, the bot slid back like a wireless puppet and crashed to the ground.

Nothing came out of Heatwave's mouth as he stared into the coptorbot's optics. His focal lenses were fully dilated, giving him an eerie appearance as he stared silently back up at Heatwave.

And not a spark of light was visible.


	2. Chapter 2

"Heatwave..." Kade's voice was low as he stared at Blades. "Is he... I mean... he's just... sleeping... off right? You can turn him back on, can't you?"

"We don't have switches like one of your cheap kitchen appliances!" The bot snapped back, causing Kade to reel a few steps back, caught off guard by the harshness of his tone. Heatwave steeled his jaw and turned his face away from Kade for a moment, and when he spoke again, his tone was so soft and low, it was barely audible over the wind.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that."

"I know you didn't... I just meant... It's not as bad as I think it is, is it?"

"I don't know... I can't check anything from here, and I definitely can't get him back on my own in this weather. Where in the Allspark are Chase and Boulder?! We radioed for them over ten minutes ago!"

_/We are endeavoring to speed as fast as legitimately feasible in these inclement conditions, however, we have been obligated to make several detours due to flooding issues. Is Blades' condition still unchanged?/_

Heatwave didn't respond. He just stared down at Blades' motionless face. "I shouldn't have said that..." He murmured softly as he gripped the sparkless servos within his own. "I never should have said that it was good to not have to listen to you complain..."

He reached down and gently tugged at one of the bright orange finials on the side of his friend's head. The head lolled limply from the tug, but aside from that, there was no other sign of spark.

"Heat... It's not your fault. That's not even possible. But... We still have no idea what happened."

Kade squinted through the rain as he scanned the area with the flood light from his rescue kit. The crates were neatly stacked. No obvious holes, burn marks, claw marks, or anything that might otherwise suggest some type of danger had arisen. The one hanger he could see in the darkness was properly closed to keep out the storm, and it's steely gray silhouette watched them silently with an almost contemptuous feel. There was no sign that Blades had fought with anything, or anyone.

It just looked as though he had sat down and shut off for no reason.

But there had to be a reason.

And that reason might have his sister.

"HEATWAVE!"

Both were jolted out of their morbid thoughts by Boulder's booming voice coming from the darkness behind them.

"OVER HERE!" Heatwave bellowed in response, and stared tersely into the darkness as the muffled metallic clumping of his friends running towards them grew louder.

"Where's Dad and Graham?"

"We left them both home with Cody. It didn't seem right to endanger all of you. Where are Dani and Taylor?"

"I don't know... there was no sign-" Kade broke off as the hanger door rattled open a few feet. "DANI!"

Kade sprinted towards the hanger door, slipping and stumbling clumsily in the rain, but never slowing, until he had both arms wound tightly about his sister in a desperate hug of relief. The relief on both of their faces attested to how oblivious they were to the awkwardness of her being only in her white undershirt in the soaking rain.

"Dani, are you alright? Are you hurt? What happened?" He brushed back a lock of her damp hair. His sister's face and clothing was streaked with dirt, and half her face was smeared with blood from a scrape above her left temple. The rain might be concealing the evidence, but he could tell she had obviously been crying.

"I... don't know..."

"What do you mean you don't know? It's not like Blades just keeled over because he felt like a nap!"

"Heatwave! You can't be so harsh..." Boulder's stern look softened as he knelt beside the bot, inspecting their immobile friend. "After all, it's not like she did this."

Dani wiped her sleeve across her face and folded her arms across her chest before turning to face the clustered bots. "We were almost done, and the lightning was starting up. Blades was in front of me as we were walking back towards the pile when out of nowhere, I heard Blades yell to look out, and then he flung me across the field..."

Dani's voice faltered, in spite of her rescue training. Until today, it had always been people she knew, but wasn't all that close to. Today the two people she quite possibly loved the most aside from her family had both been taken down by something she couldn't understand or stop.

"When I looked up, Blades was just sitting there... Taylor was lying on the ground a few feet away... and he wasn't breathing either... I kept trying to call..."

Kade gripped her shoulders in a reassuring squeeze. "It's ok. I'm here now and I'll take care of everything. Now, where's Taylor?"

Dani wiped her sleeve across her face once more, before she gestured behind her to where Taylor was lain out on the floor of the hanger, with Dani's jacket rolled up beneath his head in a makeshift pillow.

"He's breathing normally now, and his pulse is stable." Dani's gaze drifted back to the hangar behind her. "I was able to help him, but I couldn't help my own partner..."

"That is not something you should continually berate yourself for. The subtleties of cybertronian emergency medical response are something which humans would be hard pressed if not unable to perform in a plethora of inopportune scenarios. On a more illuminated side, there does not appear to be any sign of external structural compromise, which lends itself to the likely conclusion that his internal processes will be equally undamaged."

"There's just one thing that worries me... Graham told me that Earth lightning averages 5 to 6 million kilojoules per strike. While that would certainly painful, it's not really enough to glitch our systems, much less to shut them down."

"So then we're back to when Kade and I first got here... No answers and no ideas."

"My limited portable scanning functions can't find anything specific..." Boulder murmured as he finished his assessment, "However, our stasis pods might have more insight since they will also have the records of our pre-arrival scans and bio-mechanical data."

"Then lets do it." Transforming into vehicle mode, Heatwave's optics flickered briefly towards the hanger, and the three humans there. "Kade, will you and Dani be able to take care of Taylor with Chase?"

"No problem. The Coast Guard sent over one of their rescue choppers to be in standby at the marina. They'll be able to airlift him to the hospital on the mainland. If it was lightning, he'll need treatment for the internal burns and bleeding there."

"Of course, I would be happy to assist in his transportation."

"Not so fast Chase... I need you to secure blades to my roof, then position his legs in Boulder's scoop. If we connect my hitch the his lift that should keep us close enough to not drop him."

"A prudent notion. Allow me."

Dani shivered in the doorway as she watched the bots lift and position her partner, lacing Heatwave's hose across him and the ladder rungs almost as though he were a mattress tied to the roof of a volkswagon. He was so still... It was almost appalling in a way... Blades was such a fountain of chatter coupled with a flurry of nervous movement that to see him like this brought up memories of her mother's wake and that once warm and beloved form lying still and cold against the satin pillows of her final resting place.

Her breath caught in her throat, making an almost inaudible squeak as she tried to push down those thoughts. Beside her, Kade must have been thinking the same things as she was. He gave her shoulders another affectionate squeeze then, finally noticing how very wet and thin her shirt was, he quickly shrugged off his coat and draped it around her.

"I guess there's one good thing from Taylor being out of commission... Now I don't have to give him the mandatory big brother beat down for getting you into a wet t-shirt."

"Not funny, Kade."

"I know." And he did know. But standing there helpless felt even worse than his lame attempt to lighten the mood.

The air felt even more oppressive as they watched Heatwave and Boulder disappear into the dark with their dear cargo. Even Chase lingered a moment and stared after them. If it weren't for his human charges, Kade was certain he would have abandoned protocol and raced after them.

Instead he turned towards them, assumed vehicle mode, and opened his doors for them to load Taylor into the backseat. The sooner they could see him off, the sooner they could get back and find out about Blades.

Kade just prayed it was news that they wanted to hear.

* * *

><p>"The two micron plasma cutter please."<p>

"This one?"

"One more to the left."

"Oh, right... Here you are."

Behind them, Chief and Heatwave paced back and forth, neither able to sit still. Heatwave took it one step further by being unable to even look over at where Blades lay prostrated on a makeshift examination table while Boulder gained access through various panels to assess the systems he was more intimately familiar with.

If he were to be honest with himself, he was really just waiting for Boulder to drive in that final nail and announce that, in addition to having no current, no detectable electromagnetic field, and no motor responses, there was no measurable spark.

Primus help him, why did he ever say that they were lucky to not listen to Blades complain? Blades could do nothing but piss and moan every minute of every day for the next year and it would be a joy instead of having to endure this...

"Ahhhh..."

"Boulder?" Heatwave's head shot around at the higher pitch of his teammate's sigh, so unlike the previous few he had uttered as he potential reason for hope was dashed apart.

"Look."

Heatwave stepped forward as Boulder stepped to the side and froze in place. The iridescent pulsing cerulean light of Blades' spark throbbed and rippled, nestled snugly in its central compartment.

"So he's not offline..." Heatwave murmured softly. It felt horribly voyeuristic to be gaping at another's spark like this, but since that compartment was so closely guarded it was something most bots never saw in all their cycles. "I always thought the blue was lighter..."

"Me too." Murmured Boulder softly as he replaced the various panels and components he had moved to reveal it. "But at least we know he's still there... we just need to figure out how to get him back out."

"Oh thank God..." Startled, they all jumped at the soft utterance from behind them. As preoccupied as they all were, not one had heard the arrival of Chase and his two charges. Beside them at the base of the lift, Dani's legs had given out and she sat on the floor, tears streaming openly down her cheeks as she repeated it over and over in a low whisper,

"Thank you, thank you God... Thank you..."

"I believe that if we were to express gratitude to an omniscient, non-present, non-physical being then the Allspark would be the more appropriate selection as that is the source of our origin which, I am quite certain, is not related to any of the Earthen concepts of God."

"Not now Chase." Chief Burns leaned down and scooped his daughter up in his arms. "It's alright now sweetie. The bots will take care of Blades, so just let Daddy take care of you. We'll get you some dry clothes, and some warm soup and cocoa to drink to ward off any chills..."

His voice faded as the lift closed into the ceiling above them, leaving them all staring in quiet contemplation after him. He had barely said a word when the bots left after Heatwave's call, and had been equally stoic upon their return. The bots had always taken note of the way he attempted to treat all four of his children the same, but this time was a very singular deviation, and they all noticed the different tone, facial expressions, and body language he had just used with his daughter.

"That's Dad for you. I guess it might seem a little strange to bots, but well... most normal families the Mom would do the comforting like that, but since... well... It's just something he does to try and make us feel better when he knows something important is missing." Graham looked back at Blades' still form. There was definitely something very important missing right now.

"A mom... Right... So what does soup and cocoa do? Is that some kind of medicine?"

"Not quite Heatwave... Although most girls will tell you otherwise at least insofar as the chocolate is concerned." Kade chuckled for a second, then stopped as he remembered the prone figure behind them. For such a chatterbot, Blades was commanding a remarkable amount of silence simply by doing nothing whatsoever. "So now what?"

"This is definitely more than my abilities to diagnose. I'll have our stasis pods run every scan they're programmed to run, and then in the morning I'll bundle that data with his previous diagnostics to send to Ratchet."

"So all we can do now is wait?"

"We wait." Heatwave replied tersely as he sat on the couch across the room. "You sleep."

"We'll try." Graham promised as he and his brother left the room.


	3. Chapter 3

"Dani..." Cody knocked a second time, somewhat harder. It was almost noon and his sister still hadn't come out. His Dad and brothers wouldn't really tell him what was going on, and Heatwave banned him from the bunker for some reason today, but this was getting ridiculous. "Dani there's some doctor on the phone for you. He says he's returning your call."

A muffled thump of a drawer closing followed by some muted thwaps that sounded suspiciously like she was hopping from foot to foot trying to get dressed in a hurry. The yelps and curses that came through hinted that she wasn't having all that much success. When the door cracked open though, Cody was completely unprepared for how disheveled she looked. Did she sleep in last night's clothes and try to hide it under a bathrobe? And was that... _blood_? On her face?

"Phone..." He murmured as he held the cordless out to her without commenting on her appearance. She took it from him with barely a nod and withdrew into her room to take the call.

Cody glanced up and down the hall to make sure it was clear, then leaned in to press his ear against the door. Her voice was low and muffled, but he could just barely make out what she was saying.

""Yes... This is she... Yes... That's right... He was found unresponsive and not breathing on the airfield... Yes... Maybe a minute... No, I don't think so... There was a lot of lightning in the area that night... I see... None whatsoever? ... No, not disappointed. Kind of relieved but at the same time... Yes... Is he awake... Oh... oh... oh... I see..."

Cody furrowed his brow in concentration and strained to catch more. Something bad must have happened... His sister's replies just kept getting lower and quieter, and then the next thing he knew, he was sprawled out on the floor of her room. She had been so quiet by the end, he hadn't heard her finish the call.

"Cody!"

"I know!" He scrambled to his feet, actually feeling a little relieved that she looked angry with him. "I know I'm not supposed to spy on you, but you didn't get home until after I went to bed, and everyone kept saying to leave you alone, and the bots are being weird and aren't coming upstairs or letting me downstairs, and I'm really worried about everyone!"

"Cody..." Dani sighed in exasperation.

"You let me handle the dispatch where I can hear all about the missions and the emergencies that are going on around town, but then when something actually happens to someone in my own family you act like I'm too young to know or understand!"

"Cody..."

"I'm not too young to understand! I understood just fine that mom was never coming back, and when Kade broke his back in that dirt bike race I knew how serious that could be and how lucky we all were when it wasn't as bad as Dad was afraid it was going to be! Something happened last night and it's bad... I know it is. Even if you don't tell me."

Dani sighed and knelt down to brush the brimming tears from her baby brother's eyes.

"Cody, I'm sorry." Taking his hand she pulled him over to the bed and sat down beside him. "Something bad did happen last night... The worst part is that we don't know what."

"Well, then how do you know it happened?"

"Because something is wrong with Taylor and Blades. That was the doctor from last night. He just got off shift and called to give me an update. They can't find anything really wrong with him, but they can't wake him up either." Dani paused and silently thanked the stars that Taylor had seen fit to add her to his emergency contacts list. Not being able to get updates would have been ten thousand times worse.

"Maybe he's just tired and really needs the sleep?"

Dani smiled softly. Cody's voice said he didn't believe that one bit, but she still appreciated his attempt to make her feel better.

"The same thing is wrong with Blades."

"Oh."

She wrapped one arm around his shoulders and pulled him close and her little brother responded in kind, slipping one arm around her waste to return the hug. The two siblings sat there like that in silence for some time. Neither one spoke. They merely took in the other's love and support and stared quietly at the worn carpet on the floor of her room, both lost in their own sad thoughts.

* * *

><p>"You're absolutely certain?" Ratchet's face was exceptionally stern as he scrutinized Boulder through the view screen. It made the green bot's internal circuit's flicker and stutter uncomfortably. It was not so much accusatory, but obstinately factual, and Boulder just happened to be the bot challenging the obvious facts at hand.<p>

"I ran the first set, then ran diagnostics, then the second, and then ran a set on myself. My set is an exact match to my pre-flight set. The stasis pods are calibrated properly and functioning correctly, and those are definitely Blades' pre-flight scans. They match the set we took after repairing his propellors some time ago. I just have no idea what to make of the third set..."

Ratchet leaned back from his intense scrutiny, but kept his gaze directly on Boulder. "The answer is still the same that I transmitted with my first assessment. They have to be wrong, either one set or the other, but one is wrong. Those scans you sent me that you say you took off him belong to a completely different bot. Something is crossed somewhere, because it's not possible for the same bot to produce such variance in routine scanning. The values from the newest set are all within the normally expected functioning parameters. They're just not his."

"But they are his... And he's still offline with no other signs of function."

"I assume you checked his energon levels, purged his fluids, and ran new lines."

"Yes. I did that right after the EM measurements were taken."

"And you found no shorts in his wiring, diodes or plugs?"

"None whatsoever. I also compared his network assembly to that on file in case some extra element had been inserted, but I found nothing extraordinary."

"Did you disconnect his central processor for a full recharge cycle?"

"Is... that safe?"

"Yes. The only data that could be lost would be short term that had not been finalized in a recharge cycle backup. Try that. You must be sure to leave him disconnected for the full cycle in order to force his internal processors to auto-correct and re-align themselves. If he doesn't wake up then, run a second set of scans. If they're still abnormal, I'll send Wheeljack out to service your stasis pods. And if they're still abnormal after that, I'll come out myself."

"Thank you." Boulder lowered his head respectfully as the medic ended the transmission. Chase and Heatwave were both waiting for him at the door.

"He's as perplexed as we are... I think. The scans just don't make any sense."

"Well it's not the equipment." Heatwave growled. "Chase and I both ran scans on ourselves while you were waiting for him to comm in."

"It is most probable that due to a high volume of patients at his own clinic site it would be extremely inopportune for him to depart without extensively evaluating the veracity of our equipment. It is surely substandard by several deca-vorns due to our inadvertent extended stasis."

Boulder sighed, and ran his servo over Blades' as he approached the table. Every hope he found reason to cling to was being rapidly dashed almost as soon as it was found. "I guess I was just expecting him to be more like Doc Greene... More sympathetic and caring about our situation."

"Boulder, he's a _combat_ medic. He sees the worst day in and day out. And he probably knows the names of all the bots he works on."

"It is also highly improbable that he has been able to save them all. Statistically, wartime casualties are known for excessive quantities of gore as well as high probability of permanent deformation or deactivation."

The threesome grew quiet at that somber thought. It was hard enough for them to contemplate the possible deactivation of one friend... The thought of someone seeing many friends go that route was spark dimming.

"Blades..." Boulder caressed the top of his friend's head and mustered up a small smile to accompany his falsely cheerful tone. "If you can hear me, I just want you to know we're going to power you down temporarily. Optimus had his senior medic look over your scans, and he thinks this will help. We'll power you back up before you know it."

Heatwave and Chase watched quietly as Boulder slid open various panels, moved aside delicate components, and detached the needed wires. Heatwave felt a chill race through his frame as he did. There was absolutely no change in Blades. It was as though he had already been deactivated to begin with.

* * *

><p>Showered, fed, and dressed, Dani looked like a different person from the one who had seen Taylor off in the rescue chopper two nights before, or the one who had greeted Cody yesterday morning. Kade was out in the waiting room. He had insisted on taking her over to the mainland himself.<p>

It was actually kind of nice... Since the bots came, none of them really spent much one on one time with each other anymore. He managed to keep all the chatter off topic the entire ferry ride and car drive over. Mostly about Hayley and a friend's car he was contemplating buying. All she had to do was sit, close her eyes, and listen to the rather soothing sound of his voice for an hour with absolutely no expectation for her to contribute to the conversation.

He could be really sweet sometimes.

The nurse she was following opened a door and gestured her inside. With a grateful nod, Dani stepped past her into the room. She hesitated a moment as her eyes adjusted to the dimmer lights. The CPAP machine whirred softly, and the cardiac monitor contributed it's regular high-pitched blips to the room's somber atmosphere.

"How could anyone feel better here..." Dani shook off the chill and pushed the curtain back. Taylor lay peacefully resting, looking exactly as she had left him, with the exception of being drier and cleaner. Leaning forward, she gently kissed his forehead before she slid into the chair beside the bed.

He looked fine... The attending had told her his EEG results were back and showed normal brain function, his vitals were all strong and healthy, and every test they ordered came back to them with normal results. Except, he was showing no movement or physical reactions. They tested his brain stem and got nothing. His reflexes, nothing. Sensitivity tests, nothing. There should be at least some twitching from involuntary muscle movement, but there was none.

They said they couldn't explain it.

Neither could she.

* * *

><p>When she and Kade arrived home later that evening, they found the house empty save for a note on the kitchen table.<p>

_/Took the bots, Cody and Graham out to clear the roads and our heads. Boulder did some sort of reboot on Blades that will take until tomorrow morning. Keeping them busy as much as I can, so we wont be back until very late. There's some leftover chicken stew in the fridge and some biscuits in the bread box. Stay home and rest up. The bots might need some company tonight. Love you both, Dad./_

"Guess we're getting the night shift then." Kade said from over her shoulder as he started rummaging through the fridge for the food. "Glad Dad took initiative today... We have been kind of slacking on the whole saving the town bit, and I guess you're the only one with a believable excuse with Taylor."

Slopping two servings onto plates, he slid them into the microwave. "I kind of wish everyone here knew... I mean, most people would probably be cool with it. Just people like Pynch and Morocco that worry me. They have no problem walking all over people to get what they want, so why should aliens be any different, you know? It would be nice to have the town's support right now though..."

"Yeah... Thank you." Dani stared down at the plate that Kade had made her. "Kade, if you don't mind, I'm going to go downstairs to eat with Blades. I... I haven't really spent any time with him and..."

"Sure thing, sis. I'm just gonna chow down with the tv then grab a nap like Dad suggested. And Dani..." His sister paused at the lift and glanced back at Kade. He had a warm smile on his face and was giving her two thumbs up. "Prime's team's the absolute best. I know what he told them to do will work."

Dani smiled back, but only until her brother had disappeared from view. She prayed desperately that he was right, but the frigid claws that were lacing themselves through her gut filled her with dread that they might all be wrong.

"Please Blades..." She let her hand slide along one of the large black fingers before she leaned in and dropped a tearful kiss on its tip. "Please come back."

* * *

><p>"Dani..."<p>

"Mm... Blades..."

"I must regrettably inform you that I am not Blades, however, Boulder is reconnecting his conduits as we speak. Chief said that this is the equivalent of a homecoming and therefor all members of the family should be in attendance to greet him."

Dani blinked,rolled over on the couch and stared up groggily at Chase.

"Also, you have what appears to be a composite of potato, carrot, and animal byproduct on your face."

"Wha...?" She reached up and touched the side of her face. The stew... She had fallen asleep and rolled over onto her half empty plate at some point during the night. It took her another minute to realize Chase was holding a towel out to her on one finger. It looked like a small scrap of tissue against his hand.

Everyone was gathered around the table where Boulder was working, and Dani felt the dread in her stomach tighten. What was his name again? Primal? No, Primus... She closed her eyes and murmured a silent prayer to him, and any other superior being that might happen to be listening in just then.

"That... should do it." Boulder straightened, and to everyone's delight, an electric shudder ran through the helicopter's frame. The three bots straightened and leaned closer, and the Burns family all noticed the heightened note of expectation in the room.

"Please, please, please..." As Dani crept forward from the couch, she caught her brother's faint whisper. Graham had his fingers crossed on both hands, and was chanting the request in a hushed whisper.

And then, a soft metallic whirring sound.

"Look!" Boulder's triumphant crow could not have sounded more delighted. "His optics are focusing!"

"Blades!" Heatwave leaned forward and slid one servo behind his friend's head. "Can you hear me?" Dani's chest burned from the breath she was holding in, but she scarcely noticed. Was that a light she just saw in his eyes?

The flicker of green peeped on then off... then on again and the entire room exhaled as one as the bot tilted his head on his own for the first time in days.

"Blades! C'mon... Look at me..." Heatwave cupped his friend's face and forced his dim gaze towards him. "Look at me..."

"Is..." The light shimmered stronger in Blades' eyes as he gave Heatwave the strangest look they had ever seen on a bot's face before. "Is your robot coming onto me?"

The groggy slur of words took a moment to register fully with all of them and Heatwave actually seemed completely dumb struck by the comment.

"Are your transistor's sparking right?"

"I... really hit my head..."

"Oh dear GOD..."

Startled, the entire room turned to stare at Dani's ashen face. All color had drained from it, and her eyes were impossibly wide as she stared at her bot.

"Taylor..."

Barely even a whisper, the bot still turned towards her as well. "Dani? What happened?"

"Holy shit..." As an afterthought, Kade moved his hands to cover his youngest siblings ears, not quite registering that it was too late to blot out that profanity. It was Chief Burns who snapped out of it first.

"If Taylor's here... then that means..."

"Primus help him... help us all..." Heatwave murmured.

* * *

><p>So, yes. HERE is the true plot of my story. I just like buildup and figured the surprise would be fun for anyone who didn't already deduce it from the title. And now, my apologies to the wonderful people who are enjoying this and have been telling me so. I appreciate your comments very much, but I have only one day off in the next 14 days, so you're stuck here for a bit. But hey on the bright side, he's not dead! He's just... squishy.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

In space, no one can hear you scream.

Graham had personally come dangerously close to discovering whether or not this statement was true or just another urban legend.

Right now though, he was positive that whoever came up with that had never met a bot named Blades. Beside him, Graham felt his dad stiffen as well. They were still in the hospital elevator, separated by two sets of steel doors from the nursing floor, the traditional lame elevator music playing softly in the background, but there was absolutely no mistaking the uniquely distinctive pitch of Blades' hysterical shrieks coming from the next floor.

Chief Burns was already halfway down the hallway before the elevator doors had finished opening, leaving his son several feet behind him. Blades' unintelligible shrieks were becoming far more coherent now that the steel doors weren't muffling them.

And rather disturbing at that... His juvenile grasp of human anatomy combined with frantic panic was coming out sounding very Hannibal Lecter... If Hannibal Lecter ever dropped acid before pursuing his warped pursuits in anatomy.

Disturbing as that was, it was not nearly as disturbing as the cluster of doctors, nurses, and security blocking their way into the room the shrieks were coming from. Graham nearly slid into the group trying to stop. Hospital floors, smooth-soled men's dress shoes, and running were all a very bad combination.

"Please, let me through!" His father kept right on moving though, his authoritative tone and matching uniform commanding attention and obedience. In fact, Graham was pretty sure he'd heard that same tone directed at them whenever they fought when they were little.

"No one is allowed in there!"

"We're ah, family..." Graham blurted as he darted through after his father. "Sort of..." He added, under his breath, then gasped in surprise as he entered the room.

As to what shocked him the most, well that was quite obvious. The gasp was due more to the overwhelming effect that the entire scene had on him. Two nurses were huddled by the bureau, one holding a needle filled with something, the other several vials. Restraints were dangling off the foot of the bed, obviously intended for their less than cooperative patient if they ever managed to get him back into the bed. A balding doctor was standing beside the bed, with a younger resident standing nervously slightly behind him. By the bathroom door stood a security guard holding a tazer.

Had they been planning on letting him use that against Blades?

And as for Blades... er... Taylor... He was a disheveled mess. His hospital gown was falling off one shoulder, his chestnut hair mussed up and going every which way, and the dark circles under his eyes confirmed Graham's fears that he'd already been awake for several hours at least. He had wedged himself back into one corner of the room and had half scaled the wall, ironically positioning himself as high as he could from the ground and medical staff clustered before him. His right foot was braced against the window frame of the outside wall, while his left foot was wedged into some sort of metal framework by the head of the bed. Some sort of sling to move patients in? Graham wasn't too sure. The IV stand was tipping precariously as Blades was clinging to it in wild desperation, trying to use it as a comical cane to somehow maintain his balance.

What he was sure of, was that he was getting much more than just an eyeful of far more of Taylor's anatomy than he had ever wanted to see.

"Taylor! We *ahem* have _Blades_ back home waiting for you. Doc Greene is already looking into this, so why don't you just come on down son."

"Nononono... Blades can't be there if I'm here because then I'm not there and if I'm not there then I have to be here and being there when I'm here would be a trans-dimensional paradox punishable by the highest offices and Chase would never let that happen because that wouldn't be allowed and it shouldn't be and I need Heatwave and Kade to get me down right now and I really don't mind if he's super grumpy about it so long as he gets me down..." Blades' voice babbled almost unintelligibly from Taylor's mouth. He didn't even seem to recognize who had just spoken to him. "HEATWAVE! Get me down! HEEEEEEEAT... WAAAAAAAAVE!"

Graham couldn't remember the last time he'd had an honest to goodness night terror. The kind where you wake up, small and scared, alone in a dark room, convinced that the world is ending but you're not sure how. You're just absolutely convinced beyond all reason that it's ending. He had a few hazed memories of his father coming into the room when he woke up screaming from one, and though he didn't remember how or why, he was sure his dad had made everything better.

Just like he was now.

"Shhshh... Come on now son, just look at me." Chief gently but firmly moved a nurse aside to step in closer, his movements slow and fluid like a cat stalking prey. "Now then, it's going to be fine. All you have to do is trust me. Listen to my voice, and trust me."

"NO I CAN'T BECAUSE IT'S NOT!" Gasping and hiccuping for breath, every word was a torn mix between a shriek and a cry. He had probably already cried all the tears he could before they even got here. He just shook his head from side to side, the greasy hair flopping about like a shaggy dog's. "ITS ALL WARM... AND... AND WET... AND... AND SQ... SQ... SQUISHYYYYYYY!"

"Tchshhshh... Look at _me_ son. Come on now. Do you think I would ever lie to you? Now take a big breath and just hold it like this..." All the while moving up past the doctors, his Dad's face and arms were upturned to the terrified man-bot, and he himself took a deep breath and held it, puffing out his cheeks so Blades could see and mimic, which he did, albeit tearfully.

That seemed so familiar... It tugged at something deep in the back of Graham's mind and for a second, he felt almost... jealous? Was he seriously feeling a spike of envy at seeing his dad interact with Blades in a way that he couldn't quite remember for himself? He had three other siblings for crying out loud, how could he be upset at sharing his father when he'd already been doing that his entire life? It was almost shameful to have to admit to himself.

He was still just a few steps behind his dad as the Chief moved forward, but he said nothing to break the lulling effect his dad's voice had on the entire room. Even if he'd wanted to, he wasn't sure if he would have been able to speak to break the trance.

"There now... that's better... You have to remember to breathe... In and out... Nice, deep breaths... Feels a lot better now, doesn't it?" His dad sidled past the IV stand, and reached up for Blades to take his hand. Graham stepped up and steadied the IV stand while Taylor stumbled down from his perch, still stuttering incoherently, albeit in a more hushed tone now that almost resembled calm. "There we go, slowly now... Almost there..."

His dad was seriously an all-star hero. Graham was so caught up admiring his dad being, well, an incredible dad, that he almost failed to turn away in time as Blades lurched awkwardly towards him to the ground, very nearly giving him a face full of a part of Taylor he never wanted to see that up close again. Dear God how would he have ever explained that to Dani? Whoops sorry, while we were out I may have been teabagged by your boyfriend, no hard feelings?

He did turn just in time to see the flash of white from the corner of his eye, and caught Blades' startled yelp as someone jabbed a needle into his bared posterior. The movement was enough to shock his voice back to life.

"What did you just do?!"

"Sedated my hysterical patient, what does it look like?"

"He's not _your_ patient anymore." Chief Burns announced tersely. "He was brought here out of concern for internal bleeding and electrical burns, and since there are none, there's no longer any reason for him to stay here."

"I dare say a psych consult would find several dozen reasons for him to stay. This young man is clearly delusional. He cannot distinguish between science fiction and reality and is suffering from severe hysteria and psychosis. He's a danger to himself and others in this state."

"He's not dangerous!" Graham protested.

"When a young man insists he needs to climb out the window to fly home he is endangering himself and those who are trying to help him!"

Graham bit his tongue. Of course Blades would have tried to get out of the room once he woke up... He probably hadn't realized what had happened to him, much less put two and two together and figure out he should try and act like Taylor and pass for a normal human being...

"PTSD." His dad replied smoothly, never missing a beat. "Send a young man out to some god-forsaken land, teach him it's kill or be killed, feed him that day after day and then see how well he turns it off afterwards. Something exploded, he blacked out, and he woke up in a strange place. With his background of course he's off."

"I'm not off... I'm on... I... am... deniflatly ohnnn..." Blades slurred at them from where he stood half slumped awkwardly against Graham, who was silently counting his blessings that his brother wasn't here to see this. Having Dani's half-naked boyfriend hanging on him was something Kade would NEVER let him live down. Seriously... All that was left was for Blades to knock him to the ground and pin him underneath him and they would have gone through every imaginable embarrassing, semi-sexual scenario he could fathom never wanting to be in with his sister's boyfriend.

"Come on, _Taylor_... We're going home." Everyone shuffled out of their way as his Dad stared them down. Did he learn that at the police academy? It was very John Wayne at the O.K. Corral... "Now, let's just sit you out here in the hallway with Graham, and I'm going to go and sign you out."

"Sign... sign... eberwhere a saiignnn..." Blades murmured in a sing-song slur, his head already lolling from side to side as though it had suddenly become too heavy for his neck to hold up.

"You can't take him out there." The senior doctor had finally snapped out of the hushed trance that his dad had gotten the entire room to fall into.

"Just watch me. I'm signing him out for or against your advice. He'll obviously do better recovering in a calmer, more familiar environment, which I have at home. Graham, you stay here with... _Taylor_. I'll be back before you know it." Chief Burns gave Blades a stern look as he said his human host's name with a certain emphasis, then he ruffled his hair with his hand before he gestured for the doctors to lead the way to the nursing station.

Graham smiled weakly as the doctors scowled in his direction. The nursing and security staff on the other hand looked mildly relieved to see their looniest patient leave.

"On... off... on... off..." Blades slumped over, his head in Graham's lap, and giggled. "Stars... twinkle stars... flying home... Twinkle twinky... ding dong's shou..."

"I really hope you guys don't have some sort of moral or legal objections about getting stoned... Chase might be really pissed at us if Cybertron does." Graham couldn't help but chuckle though as Blades flailed one hand weakly through the air, trying to catch the stars only he could see. Obviously that shot had had a bit more punch to it than they may have intended.

In response Blades giggled uncontrollably, like a hyena on helium.

His father was gesturing emphatically down the hall, though he was too far away for Graham to hear anything from what was being said. Hopefully this wouldn't take long, Dani was probably tearing up the house right now waiting for them to call and tell her that he was okay, and since his cell phone was still on Chase's dash, he couldn't sneak her a quick text. Dad had made her stay home to help explain the bots to the newly inducted Taylor-copter, saying that if Blades was at the hospital and awake like she feared, his reaction to Dani would probably be very unpredictable in this state.

Talk about an understatement. Or maybe his Dad had actually considered the fact that Taylor would have been in a hospital gown at most, and flashing a lot more skin than any father would want to think about his only daughter oogling. Which, come to think of it, was probably why he had brought him along instead of Kade. Lucky, lucky, him.

"Graaaaaa-hammmm..." Blades' whisper was strangely sweet in its childish innocence. It changed the look of Taylor's entire face from its usually stern and serious expression to one of almost wide-eyed wonder, and for the briefest of instants, he quietly wondered whether Blades would make the same adolescent crush faces at Dani that Taylor did.

"Yes Blades?" He whispered, leaning in close so no one could overhear.

"You feel... squishy..." A drunken hand waved through the air then poked him, making Graham's face flush scarlet from his scalp to his collar. "Riiight shere..."

"Blades..." Graham's hiss was several tones higher than it should've been as he struggled to keep his composure while Blades giggled hysterically in his lap. Graham pleaded silently that the staff wouldn't come investigate as he floundered helplessly for words. Sometimes girls just didn't appreciate how easy they had it... If he were a girl the only answer he would have needed would have been an indignant huff followed by a smart slap, but no, he was a guy and aside from the cliche bar brawl, he really didn't have an answer prepared for this.

"We do not... poke other people's... squishy bits..." He finished lamely.

Oh his Dad had better be _really_ fast with that paperwork...


	5. Chapter 5

A slight... variation, shall we say, of a children's song/poem is used in this chapter. For those of you not familiar with it, here is the original so that you may better enjoy the variation. :D

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.  
>The first one said "Oh my, it's getting late!"<br>The second one said, "There are witches in the air!"  
>The third one said, "Good folks beware."<br>The fourth one said, "Let's run and run and run."  
>The fifth one said, "It's time for some fun!"<p>

* * *

><p>"So... A giant robot leader from a semi-destroyed planet way off in outer space has moved to the central mid-west, and when a team of rescue robots arrived because their spaceship responded to his deep space signal he assigned them to work with your family to learn about humans and promote intergalactic relations even though no one except you actually knows that they're aliens so there's no real intergalactic relations to speak of."<p>

"That's... basically it." Dani replied from where she sat on one of Blades' knees, talking up to her boyfriend. "I know... It's a lot to absorb in one morning..."

"Dan-dan... I've been disembodied and put into a giant robot helicopter. I will _never_ be surprised by anything ever again."

Despite everything, Dani managed a small chuckle, and the giant robot smiled. It took her breath away for a minute. How could Blades smile just like Taylor? One was a giant steel robot, the other a warm human being... Was she imagining it? Had Blades always smiled like that and she just never noticed? If that was the case, wouldn't that mean that Taylor actually smiled like Blades?

This was all making her head throb. How could something as simple as packing some boxes away before a storm turn into a disaster of such an epic scale?

"It's okay Dani..." She looked back up at where Blades' usually naive face had an unusually concerned and serious expression on it. "If we went one way, I'm sure we can go back the other. Just so long as we don't rush it and end up with one of those Star Trek transporter disasters." A large black finger stroked the top of her head, and Dani smiled again. He was just barely touching her. He must be worried about the robot's strength and whether he could properly adjust it or not.

"I think Doc will make sure that won't be a possibility. How're you feeling today?"

"Not too bad, considering. I kind of expected to feel colder... These metal bodies are strangely warm. I just hope your pet robot isn't getting me into trouble right now."

"They're _not_ robots. And they are most _definitely_ not pets. They're living, feeling, beings. Blades is one of the best friends I've ever had, and he's my partner." The bot straightened at the sudden sharpness to her tone and she cringed internally. She hadn't meant to sound so defensive, but the words had just spilled out reflexively.

"I'm sorry Dani, I... Well last night the most advanced robot I knew was Doc Greene's helper, and he's never said two words to me. Now you've gone and introduced me to robots who make the one in A.I. seem obsolete, and that movie was pretty mind blowing with its robots even if they were just C.G... Only your robots are some sort of political refugee who are probably better educated than I am. And if that's not enough, to make things even more confusing, I'm stuck _inside_ one of them."

"I'm sorry too... Just... Try to think of the bots as friends, okay? This is really hard for them too. Blades is... Well you'll see. It's really hard not to want to take care of him."

"I would try anything for you, especially if it makes you smile."

Dani blushed, and turned almost in relief as the lift whirred to life and Heatwave and Boulder came back down.

"Hate to butt in, but Chase just radioed ahead that they're back on dry land and on their way here with Blades. He didn't give any details, but my transistors are buzzing that it's not good."

"They did say that he appeared to be fine at least physiologically. So you don't have to worry about that." Boulder chimed in. Dani sighed. It was painfully obvious to both her and Boulder that Heatwave was very put off by Blades' physical presence combined with his lack of actual presence. He looked anywhere but at Blades when he spoke. They just weren't sure whether he was upset that Taylor was intruding, or that Blades was missing.

"So when's Doc coming over to fix us?"

"Heh. Doc's good but he's not that good." Kade smirked as he stepped out from behind Boulder, his arms full of sheets and bedding, and walked over to the couch and began making it up as a bed. "He called and said he was digging through the records still for the research paperwork on at least one of the boxes still. I dunno if that means he's already gone over the papers for the others and none of them could be responsible, or if he's getting all the papers together first and then reading them."

"So make myself comfortable, huh? Don't tell me... Your Dad is having you sleep here to babysit me lest I sneak into Dani's room? This may come as a surprise to you, but I really don't think I can pull off stealth in a twenty foot tall robot."

"You wouldn't even fit through the door. And for the record, Heatwave has my back if I need to lay a big brother smack down on a certain someone. All he has to do is keep you here while I take Blades out in public. Maybe the carousel over at the fairgrounds..." Kade smirked. "Seriously though, Dad said we should have Blades bunk down here so he can at least wake up in a familiar room with all of you here. Whole thing sounds fishy though. They're definitely not telling us something."

"Not that I blame Blades... I know how disgusting you can be. If that's really the "guy thing" that you say it is, then that would make Taylor equally disgusting to be stuck in."

"Hey now, I resent that!" Taylor chimed in, but Dani just shook her head.

"Don't even bother... They won't even notice."

"Hey, it's not disgusting. It's just good old fashioned manly goodness." Kade laughed and flexed his arms in a mock muscle man pose.

"That happens to be disgusting."

"Nothing disgusting about a little hard work that can only be done with biceps and elbow grease. That's the numero uno recipe for a hero."

"Wait... You grease your elbows? That explains the stains on my dash."

""That's just you needing some detailing. If you took a little more pride in your appearance you wouldn't have that problem."

"Thank Primus I don't feel the need to preen like you."

"Yeah you poor genderless bots... just don't know all the fun you're missing out on."

"Oh don't you worry _your_ pretty little head about our _fun_... We're just not shallow like you."

"Are they fighting about _sex_ now? How does that even work with robots... Unless I'm supposed to be some kind of butch chick bot, I am _definitely_ missing a few key parts right now."

Dani snickered and patted Blades' knee. "T.M.I. Taylor. This is my bot we're talking about here. Think of Kade and Heatwave as Irish twins... So close in age that they secretly are exactly alike, but insist on bickering over every itty bitty detail just to try and prove that they're not. As for what they're fighting about, they don't even know half the time."

"Hey now, I am _nothing_ like him!" They both chimed in near perfect unison, then scowled at one another simultaneously.

Dani rolled her eyes as Taylor snickered. "Yes, I definitely see what you mean now. No wonder you always want to go out instead of staying in."

Dani blushed again as Kade arched an eyebrow and opened his mouth with what she knew would be one helluva snappy come back, but it never left his mouth. The lift whirred to life and moved back up, and they all turned as one and held their breaths as it came back down.

Chase stepped off first, and gave Heatwave and Boulder a reassuring nod. "I am elated to report that we have all returned in relative safety. I have also been repeatedly reassured that these effects are merely temporary and will pass within a human's normal recharge cycle."

The three bots just stood there completely dumbstruck while Dani hastily scrambled off Blades' knee to dash over to where 'Taylor' was being half dragged into the room, his arms draped over Graham and her father's shoulders.

"Faaiiiive lil pump... kins... s'ting on a face... this one said ohhhhh my issss late..."

"Dad! You didn't shoot him with that ridiculous horse tranquilizer gun for violent offenders did you?!" Dani's expression was one of mild horror as she tried to lift the man-bot's face to look at her, only to have it lol right back down against his chest, still singing off-key in a hazed slur.

"Of course not sweetie. The nursing staff were just a step ahead of us is all. He just needs to sleep this off and we can try talking to him tomorrow."

"Uhn the therd one said here's bitches in their hair..."

"You know... I don't remember any of the pumpkins saying that..." Kade announced flatly. He had taken a few steps back and had his arms folded stiffly across his chest, obviously discomforted by the scenario before him.

"It would appear that human medicinal hallucinogenics have substantial impact on both the auditory and elocution abilities of the one into whom they are injected. I believe that the possessed orange vegetable in question was referring to fictitious female practitioners of magic and not canines of the female gender."

Graham cringed sheepishly. "Blades was throwing a fit that people could here outside of Chase, and the halloween children's compilation was the only CD on the counter display of the hospital gift shop... We were kind of in a hurry..."

The two men straightened to try and lift Tylor as much off the ground as they could, and half-dragged him over to the couch, which Kade had already setup for his use.

"Also," Chase chimed in as they moved past, "I have learned that while public nudity is prohibited in most instances and punishable by ample monetary fines in addition to extended periods of criminal detention, these laws do not apply to those wearing appropriate hospital garb. Happily, this exemption enabled Chief and myself to merely cite Blades with a sternly verbalized warning... Repeatedly. It does not appear our admonitions have taken hold yet."

Dani had the decency to blush, while Blades nearly fell off his perch, coming dangerously close to accidentally crushing Kade as he scrambled to move a giant robot hand in front of his exposed human posterior.

"Hey now! That's _my_ nudity you guys are publicly displaying! I don't think it's unreasonable for a guy to expect that if you accidentally throw him in your robot and your robot into him that you can at least teach your robot to keep certain things covered!"

"Sorry Taylor... Believe me, we have been trying!" Graham called back over his shoulder with a flush, as he and his Father tried to get Blades to lie down on the couch. In the end, they had to settle for him falling forward on his knees with his face snoring softly into the pillow and his rump in the air, still exposed by the gown, until they covered him with a quilt.

"Well try harder for crying out loud! I don't need any police reports about this on my permanent record!" The bot huffed back, noticeably pissed. "You're an officer of the law! You know better than anyone how that would affect my licenses and career options."

"I'm sorry son, but well, the bots just don't have that concept and I doubt you'd have wanted the two of us on top of you trying to dress you anyway. I promise you, any trouble that Blades gets you into, I will put in for every I.O.U. I have with absolutely everyone I've ever assisted to get it taken care of."

"Besides, it's not like you have anything to be ashamed of." Dani added with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Young lady!"

"Whaaaat Dad, I'm just making an honest observation..."

"Your room. Now."

"Spoil sport." Her smile though, as she waved from the elevator said it all though. For the first time in days, she was genuinely, completely relieved. The eye candy to oogle was just the cherry on top of an already better day.

"Now about all this Taylor..." Chief sighed. He should have sent Dani to a convent before bringing Blades home. Then left her there the entire time Blades was stuck in Taylor.

"It's alright. Sort of." The bot sat back upright, an unusually catty expression on his face. "It's worth it to see Dani smile. And hey, at least she likes my butt..."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure she was talking about a little bit more than your butt..." Kade rolled his eyes. "Heatwave, you and me buddy, we're going to have to get one helluva plan together on this one. This just crossed way over the line of big brother smack down."

"Yeah... About that... When I know what it is we're supposed to be smacking him down for, then I'll take it under consideration. Until then, you're scrap outta luck."

"Kade, not another word. I spent all day trying to explain propriety to a hysterical bot. You are not ending my day with a lesson on birds, bees, and family."

"Wait... All this time they've been arguing over small flying animals? Well that's a relief!" Boulder exclaimed before sidling up to Chase and lowering his voice. "I don't know about you, but I was always kind of worried they were arguing about interfacing..."

"That had been my primary hypothesis as well. I will need to re-evaluate the roles of these birds and bees and their impact upon human family dynamics."

Graham shook his head. "Not another word Kade, just... Not another word."


	6. Chapter 6

"He's been recharging for almost 12 hours now... Isn't he done yet?"

"I do not believe that their recharge cycles share many similarities with ours... I have noticed that on average, the Chief's cycles tend to be quite regular and average 8.2 hours in length which Graham and Kade tend to have highly erratic cycles with durations varying from 3.1 to 9.8 hours. Although I have noted that aside from immediately following an all night patrol or physically demanding rescue of exceptional intensity, they generally do not enter them during the daylight cycles."

"So then we should try and wake him?"

"I'm not certain. Do you suppose that the phrase 'let sleeping dogs lie' may also apply to humans? And if so, would it still apply to a human who is no longer in possession of his own spark?"

"Mmm-urngghle..." The lump under the comforter shifted, and the two bots crouched to either side of it perked up noticeably at the sounds.

"Blades..." Boulder shuffled forward a tentative foot and gently poked the lump with a cautious digit. "Are your processors coming back online?"

"Do they even have processors?"

"I'm not sure... but they must have something relatively similar if they have recharge cycles..."

"What are you talking about?" The lump shifted and a tousled head and torso sat up from beneath the quilt. His eyes were still half-closed, and his voice thick from sleep. "Of course I have a processor. What kind of aft backwards question is that?"

"Blades! You have no idea how wonderful it is to hear your voice again!"

"I must concur. Even in your current preposterous state you are, as the humans say, a sight for sore optics."

"Why Chase? What's wrong with your optics? And... What's wrong with my optics?" Blades shook his head, blinked, and then shook his head spasmodically again.

"Blades... don't you... don't you remember?" Boulder murmured tentatively, uncertain how to broach the subject. After much prodding and pleading, Graham had finally caved and given him the fully detailed story behind how they found Blades at the hospital. If his optics had been faulty at the time, he was certain he would have sobbed hysterically just from the description of things, and the last thing he wanted was to inadvertently re-trigger this reaction in Blades.

Blades' human face was scrunched up and wrinkly as he continued blinking and making strange faces. "Hmm? Remember what?" The man-bot shook his head one more time, muttering half under his breath something about faulty optics and defective focal lenses, when he turned to look at Boulder and froze.

"Boul... der..." Inch by inch his head tilted up until his head was craned back almost unnaturally so that he could finally see his friend's face. "Oh scrap... have I been shrunk... again?"

"Not... exactly..." Boulder winced, and tried to flash his most reassuring smile. "It's only temporary, I'm sure... And you'll get to experience so many new and exciting things that you'll have to tell me all about! So there's a really positive way to-"

Blades' scream cut him off. He had raised a hand and was now staring at the fleshy, shaking digits in abject horror.

"While most certainly disconcerting to discover yourself in such a predicament, it may come as some relief to know that your proper form is fully functional, undamaged, and currently inhabited by Taylor's spark. He is coping remarkably well, although he claims this is due to an affection for something called 'Freaky Friday' and the sci-fi channel."

"Relief? RELIEF?! That is the absolute last thing I am feeling right now! I am trapped in a fragile carbon-based life form and you want me to be RELIEVED?! And furthermore... wait... did you say..." Blade's face twitched. "_Taylor_... has... a _spark_... and it's... _inside_... of... _me_...?"

"Well... Sort of... I mean..." Boulder hesitated.

"What he means is that somehow, human souls and cybertronian sparks are apparently similar enough in their physical and electro-chemical properties that they are somehow interchangeable within each other's species' physical housing."

"Doc! Does this mean you found the answer?" Boulder and Chase stood and stepped back from the couch as Doc Greene and the Chief stepped off the lift and walked over towards the group.

"Regrettably, I am still endeavoring to fully grasp the mechanical properties of the tech which may have been involved. When Chief called this morning and told me Taylor, I mean _Blades_, was now home, I came over to see if I might be able to glean some insight from some behavioral observations."

"But I don't want to be observed..." Blades whimpered, as he pulled the comforter up to his chin. "I want to be back inside _me_ where I am _supposed_ to be. This violates everything the Allspark stands for!"

"I am uncertain as to whether or not there is any sort of directive against... spark swapping..." Chase mused. "I am only aware of one instance in which a spark inhabited another cybertronian, and even then it was not able to force the original spark out, merely assume control temporarily. In fact, I am quite certain you may be the first and only cybertronian to have traded sparks with an alternate species."

"Well I don't want to be the first... or the last! I want to have never done this at all!"

"Hate to break it to you Blades, but it's a little late for that." Heatwave muttered from across the room. Boulder and Chase exchanged a knowing look when he did not step further into the room or look directly at any of them. "You need to do whatever it is Kade and them all do in the morning. Cody took a message from the comm this morning. Ratchet is going to be linking in with Optimus to check in on our little situation in about an hour."

"Well then we're going to have to get you upstairs son to borrow some clothes from Kade." Chief held up a fleece bathrobe and gestured for Blades to stand up to don it. "Luckily you two are close enough in size that we shouldn't have too much trouble finding something acceptable."

Blades whimpered and looked from Chase to Boulder before looking uncertainly at the robe. "Are you sure this won't hurt?"

"Blades, if the donning of linen garments was in any way unpleasant I am sure we would have learned of this by now from our hosts. They do don them on a regular basis, and aside from complaints over wet garments being somehow unpleasant, I have heard nothing else that is in any way worrisome."

Blades nodded uncertainly at Chase before hesitantly sidling out from under the comforter. Doc took his arm and started to help him stand, when Blades let out an agonized cry and doubled over onto the ground.

"Blades!" Heatwave's voice sounded genuinely panicked as he rushed into the room and pushed Boulder out of the way to kneel down beside him. The tone is his voice was venomous and accusatory as he turned towards the humans kneeling over Blades. "What have you done to him?!"

"Absolutely nothing, I assure you!"

"Heatwave, I appreciate your concern but right now, you're not helping." Chief's tone was equally stern and sharp in response to the bot's. Behind him, Chase clasped the firebot's shoulder and shook his head at him, wordlessly confirming the Chief's statement. Heatwave growled softly, and leaned back slightly to grant the humans more room, but made no move to step back further.

"Now Blades, what's wrong?"

"I think... I'm... dying..." The man-bot gasped between muffled sobs, still doubled over on his knees.

"Where exactly is the pain coming from?"

"I... don't... know..." He whimpered breathlessly. "It's... not like... anything... I've ever... felt... before..."

"Alright son... I know it hurts, but I need you to sit up just enough for Doc and I to see where it hurts... We can't help if we can't figure out what's wrong." Chief's voice was so soft and gentle, even the hysterical bot was able to calm down enough to make that effort with a muffled groan. "There we go now..."

"Alright Blades, I need you to to tell me when it hurts." Doc Greene gently pressed his hand into the right side of Taylor's abdomen, just below his ribcage. "Nothing? Well that's a relief since that rules out the liver... how about here?" Doc's hand moved further down, and Blades shook his head tearfully again, though he was still biting down on his lower lip to suppress the urge to cry.

"Good... good... So then it's not his appendix... and here?" Several minutes later, a perplexed Doc Greene still hadn't found the source of Blades' pain. A thorough examination of his abdomen had garnered a series of negative nods from Blades, whose eyes were still brimming with tears and the occasional muffled whimper of pain.

"Blades... I need you to really focus right now..." Chief's voice was remarkably calm and soothing, despite having three frantic bots hovering over him, one of whom would quite possibly squish him if he couldn't solve this. "Now son, close your eyes, and focus on where the pain is... where does it feel the absolute worst? It might be really hot and burning... Or maybe a sharp stabbing pain that feels like it's twisting something..."

Blades nodded and closed his eyes. "I think... I'm going to explode... right here..."

"Oh my... well this is a bit of an unexpected turn." Doc Greene straightened thoughtfully. "Although I suppose it is perfectly reasonable that the differences in internal anatomy structure and arrangement would result in such confusions."

"Well, what is it?! Out with it already!" Heatwave growled, and Chase stepped warily in between him and the cluster of humans.

"It's nothing to be concerned about."

"I am... not... making this... up!" Blades gasped out, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"I know you aren't son. Now come on with me. Chief knelt down and pulled one of Taylor's arms over his shoulder to help support his weight as he stood and began walking across the room.

"I... I can't..." Blades whimpers loudened to sobs of pain as his legs buckled under him with each forced step. Chase and Boulder were both now physically holding Heatwave back.

"I am certain that if Chief says it is of no real concern, than this must be the case." Chase insisted as his grip on Heatwave tightened, which only earned him a baleful look. "Perhaps it is a result of his not being properly clothed."

Across the room, Chief Burns was making a valiant effort to ignore the commotion behind him to focus solely on his charge. "Just a few more steps Blades..."

"Dad... Is everything alright?" Graham poked his head around the corner, Kade and Dani right behind him.

"We're fine kids, just head on back upstairs."

"NO... We're... NOT..." Blades wailed.

"Scrap it all Kade! What is he doing to Blades?!"

"Dad..." Kade shoved past his brother and ran up to Blades. He knew Heatwave's tone of voice well enough to know the bot was scared enough to just take out everything sight in order to be sure he took out the only real threat. His demeanor changed once he got in front of them though.

"I... think I'll sit this one out." Kade stepped aside awkwardly and let his father step into the hall before he went over to his bot. "Come on Heat... Leave this one to Dad and... Just trust me on this one, ok?"

"Trust you? Trust YOU? You're not even telling us wha-"

All three bots jumped in a mixture of shared shock and fright at the shrill scream of absolute terror that tore through their home, while the four humans cringed.

"Just um... trust me... Dad's done this before... He absolutely knows what he's doing right now, even if it is scaring the daylights out of Blades."

Chase and Boulder did not loosen their grip on Heatwave, who had at least been shocked enough by the scream to stop trying to charge after the chief. It was Chase's matter of fact voice that broke the silence first.

"I was not aware that humans contained daylight which could be frightened out of them."

* * *

><p>Half an hour later, the bots were all huddled about Blades in the comm room, anxiously trying to get some response from his ashen face. He sat perfectly still, save for his hands, which were anxiously wringing and unwringing a dishtowel, and he made eye contact with no one. He merely stared emptily across the room with the look of someone who knew he was already dead.<p>

Chief looked equally run down from the morning's events, although they could all at least tell that Blades looked cleaner, smelled better, and was fully dressed. No amount of coaxing on Dani's part though was able to get through to him when it came to eating or drinking a little something for breakfast.

Taylor had joined them last, and at Dani's request, had very quietly moved to the back of the room where Blades wouldn't be able to see him. Even to him it was obvious Blades was not coping well with their little 'arrangement'.

The steady bleep of the comm coming to life got everyone's attention though.

"Heatwave here, do you copy?" A moment later the image on the screen flickered into focus and Optimus Prime and Ratchet filled the screen.

"We're reading you loud and clear Heatwave. Status report?"

"It's... complicated..." Heatwave hesitated, at a loss for words.

"Hmph. It can't be that complicated. I can see for myself that the hard cycle worked since Blades is online behind you."

"That's... not Blades."

Optimus and Ratchet both arched their optic ridges skeptically at the firebot, who again found himself floundering for a way to explain their unique situation. Thankfully, chief chose that moment to step in.

"That," He began, gesturing back towards the coptorbot, "would be my daughter's friend Taylor. And this," he added stepping aside so they could see the shell-shocked Taylor sitting in the easy chair they had brought in from the living room, "would be Blades."

The two autobots stared silently from one to the other, obviously perplexed, before Ratchet burst out laughing. "You're pulling my crankshaft. Is this another one of those fool's day pranks? What absurd human holiday is it this time?"

"I wish it were..." Heatwave murmured, turning and making eye contact with Blades for the first time since he'd arrived home. "I... don't know how to fix this." He admitted, a touch of guilt and shame evident in his voice.

Blades lifted his head at that and stared numbly at Heatwave.

"I was hoping that perhaps you might be able to send me some information about this "spark" of yours, so that I might use that while referencing the manuals of the devices that may have been involved in this unfortunate incident." Doc Greene ventured. "Perhaps a better understanding of _what_ has been swapped might provide some enlightenment as to _how_ they were swapped."

Ratchet's face went absolute deadpan. "You can't be serious. If I didn't know better I would think you'd all been hacked by Decepticons. You want me to give you detailed medical information on our innermost, most private workings, because you think it can just hop in and out of our frames at the slightest whim? Our parts might be interchangeable but our _sparks_ most definitely _aren't_. You obviously crossed some wires while making your repairs."

"I can assure you th-" Boulder was cut off by Blades' voice, shrill with indignation.

"My wires are _not_ crossed! In fact, that's not even possible right now because all of my wires are over _there_ and I am over _here_! And don't you try and tell me this isn't possible because I am definitely not over _there_ where I am _supposed_ to be!"

Optimus and Ratchet both stared, slack-jawed as the little human stood and flailed about, gesturing wildly from himself, to the bot who shrugged awkwardly and waved from the back of the room, and back again.

"You need to fix this and you need to fix this _now_ and I don't care if you have to give him the medical records for Primus himself because you have _no_ idea what it is like to be stuck in one of these... these... THESE!" He shrieked, gesturing up and down at himself. "I need to go back and I need to go back now! They're _horrid_! Weird noises, and smells, and if it's not too cold then it's too hot, and they have random parts that dangle about and if you sit on them by mistake then it's horribly painful and they... they... THEY _LEAK_!"

"Hey now, we're not that bad..." Kade huffed. "You're making us sound like some kind of monster."

"YOU ARE!" Blades wailed, his eyes brimming with tears again. "It's awful and painful and then Chief made me go into a weird little room and sit on a chair and LEAK! Primus if I ever leaked that much energon I would be _dead_ and he's there telling me this is normal and I'm supposed to go into this room MULTIPLE times in a single day and leak over and over again and I can _not_ do this! I'm going to leak to death in that room and they're going to find me deactivated and that's only if they even think to go and look for me in there!"

Taylor winced from the back of the room. "I take it you guys don't actually... 'go'... then..." The horrified looks on Heatwave, Chase, and Boulder's faces spoke volumes for them.

"I... I'm sorry... Blades..." Optimus was at a loss for words, which only upset the man-bot more.

"Just _fix_ me..." He sobbed. "Please..."

"This is completely unheard of..." Ratchet murmured. "I'll try and see what I can find, but... I... By the Allspark..."

"I... I did not... I never..." Optimus Prime shook his head slowly. "When I asked you all to learn about the humans and their culture, I never expected one of you to go quite this far in expanding your knowledge of the human species..."


	7. Chapter 7

I must share that I have the best nephew (just turned 4) ever. I just bought him the jet alt mode Blades, and he insisted and taking Blades and Boulder to dinner with us. We get home, he takes his toys up on the porch, and I follow a moment later with the bags. He's now pushing the porch swing and Blades and Boulder are sitting in it.

Auntie: "Oh that looks like fun. They're swinging together."

Nephew: "No Auntie, they are on a date. See? They are holding hands."

Auntie: ... ... "Oh how fun! They went swinging on their date."

Nephew: "No Auntie, they are sleeping together. See? They are laying down on the swing."

Auntie: ... ... ... "Oh ok, now why don't they finish their date inside?"

Nephew: "Ok Auntie!"

For the record... I did not teach him that. But if I ever vanish without a trace... blame my brother in law. =D

* * *

><p>Boulder crouched down beside the couch, doing his utmost not to squirm about with barely contained excitement. He couldn't even remember what the name of the show was that Blades had picked to watch. Whatever it was, it would be playing tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that, but Blades would only be in this unique predicament for a brief while and, once out of it, he would most likely try to forget that it had ever happened.<p>

"Blades..." His half-whisper was a good octave higher than normal.

In response his friend pulled the quilt wrapped about his shoulders up over his head and hid beneath it.

Boulder's face fell, but he didn't push the issue any farther. Dani had taken him from the comm room after they had closed the link with Optimus, and by the time they had finished discussing what to do amongst themselves, they had found him asleep on the couch again. It seemed absurd that anyone would need to recharge so much, but all the humans had insisted this was very normal for someone who was as emotionally upset as Blades was.

"Although Chief has assured me otherwise, I am quite convinced that all of this leaking is in fact directly related to their remaining energy reserves."

"I think so too, Chase." Boulder nodded emphatically.

"Chief denies this, but when his nasal cavities were producing excess fluids, he required approximately 23% more recharge than is typical. When I questioned Graham about the excessive production of fluid from Blades' ocular ducts and my concerns over his extended inactivity he responded that when Dani had broken her previous relationship she also produced a similar quantity of ocular excess and spent a significant amount of time in her bedroom alone with someone called Tori Amos who is apparently capable of producing highly cathartic music."

"Fascinating... Maybe Dani would be willing to ask them to come over again and try making music for Blades. How does one 'break' a relationship though..."

"I am uncertain. Perhaps it is in reference to these rings of personal significance that are purported to last forever by the commercial interludes."

"Hmm... That is an intriguing theory... But if the crystallized carbon is what lasts forever, then maybe it is referring to the circular metal alloy which they mount it upon in order to wear upon their digits!"

"Neither." Came the muffled reply from underneath the quilt. "It's obviously referring to their hearts. Everything hurts in these horrible forms, and Dani has told me that some horrible human broke her heart twice before."

"But that's horrible! Why would someone damage an internal component of someone they love?!" Boulder cried, his face aghast at the sheer barbarism of the concept. "Does it require medical intervention to repair?"

"How should I know? I don't think mine is broken... yet... It's probably for the same reason that they leak all the time. Nothing about these carbon bodies makes any sense. I think they self-repair during their recharge cycles though... at least for those. My oculars feel better after a recharge cycle."

Boulder squirmed anxiously and sidled closer to the couch. "Blades..." He paused, clearly debating which question to ask first to best ensure the maximum number of responses before his friend shut down again. "Did it... hurt... to leak that much?"

In response, Blades pulled the quilt back up again, wrapping it about himself like a hooded cloak.

"Not really..." He murmured softly from the tiny opening about his face. "It... did make the other pains go away. The ones in my lower torso that felt like there was some sort of parasite under my plating that was trying to chew its way out. Oh and I could stand up straight again. But then my external components shrank! That was weird... They just shriveled right up and starting flopping around back and forth. Chief said that was normal too. I think that's his answer for everything right now. 'Don't worry Blades, this is normal...' How could they keep so many horrible secrets like this from us?!"

"Fascinating! So certain aspects of their anatomy are adaptable to varying degrees! I don't think they meant to intentionally exclude us though. I mean, we don't exactly share with them all the details of our recharge cycles or the stasis pods." Boulder paused thoughtfully for a moment. "Do they all do this? The physiological adaptation part I mean."

"I guess... But Chief did say the floppy thing was a 'boy thing', so I guess Dani must do something different."

"Even more fascinating! Do you think she would be willing to demonstrate this some time?"

"I am _not_ asking her _that_." The man-bot announced flatly. "I wish I never had to see _myself_ demonstrate this ever again! Now every time Kade or Graham or Chief leave the room that's all I'm going to be able to think about! If I were you I wouldn't even want them sitting in my cab anymore! It's horrible! Thank Primus Dani doesn't have one or I might have to quit the rescue team just to not have one of them sitting on that awful thing on my upholstery!"

"Intriguing..." Despite Blades' best efforts, it was obvious the other two bots were not on the same page as him when it came to the horror. Even Chase seemed enthralled by their conversation, and he leaned forward eagerly with his own postulations. "So carbon bodies somehow produce excess fluids which they are unable to store or make use of. Excessive amounts of fluid beyond that which can be safely stored or used cause pain that then requires purging into designated receptacles in order to alleviate this. How do you suppose they produce these fluids?"

"Obviously it's caused by coffee." Blades huffed. "Dani doesn't drink any most of the time so that must be why she doesn't do this the same as everyone else."

"Oooh... of course! So then maybe if you avoid consumption of coffee this will apply to you as well."

"But perhaps the coffee fulfills an essential biological requirement of some sort..." Chase's brow was furrowed as he contemplated their options. "We should consult with Chief first to determine whether abstaining from coffee might cause further physiological harm that would be less desirable than the excessive production of non-essential fluids."

A low chuckle from the doorway caused them all to turn and falter. Taylor was leaning against the wall and smiling at them in bemusement.

"You really don't know all that much about people, do you?"

Blades scowled and retreated deeper into his quilts. "That's something coming from a body thief who knows nothing about bots. You had better not be cluttering up my processors with useless gunk!"

"I haven't a clue how to do a thing to your processors. Gunk or otherwise. Besides, don't you all have some kind of defrag program that you can run?" He replied, then froze at the aghast look on the bots faces. "What did I say?"

"I don't know what you think you just said, but back on Cybertron we would have to scrub your processor with a profanity filter for that."

"Oh... I... apologize then. I wasn't trying to offend." Taylor replied earnestly before walking over with a clumsy clunk and lowering himself awkwardly to the ground. "How do you manage to move with these propellors anyway? I'm worried I might break them every time I move. If that happened, I doubt Dani would ever forgive me."

Suspiciously, Blades poked his head out from the blanket, but seeing the earnest expression staring back at him from his own face, he quickly banished all doubt that Taylor was patronizing him. "Well, it's easiest to sit on chairs that don't have backs. Like benches and logs. I really like the tree stump out back. I can watch the river from there and it's really the perfect height of all the chairs."

"That's great for the outdoors, but what about in here?"

"The big bean bag futon. It moves around all funny, but then I don't have to worry about bending the rotors or about the rotors ripping the couch." Blades announced matter of factly. "But you can move them too. They'll both go to one side, or you can move them out or back a bit more to have more room for the chair back and then just scoot in from the side."

"Maybe _you_ can, but I haven't a clue where to begin."

As Blades sidled out closer and began explaining his various mechanics, Boulder and Chase quietly scooted out of the room and shared a small smile. Blades loved to feel useful and needed, and what better way than by having him lecture on the one topic only he was a master of?

* * *

><p>"It's quite perplexing. There are still a few more wings in the archives to comb through, but right now no one device seems capable of accomplishing this. The Matter Ephemeralator prototype seemed like a likely candidate, as it was designed to phase solid stationary objects out of sync with our plane of reality to allow mobile objects to pass through these obstacles, but that would only account for the ability to pass from one body to another... It does not explain <em>why<em> their essences would choose to or be forced to leave their proper housing or _how_ they gained their method of propulsion. By itself, the device does not have the impetus for momentum."

"Wait, you mean the phase shifters? That's not new tech."

"Not quite, Chief. The phase shifters were prototype version two. The Matter Ephemeralator was flawed in that it had a limited radius so there were instances in which halfway through a solid object, instead of passing out the opposite side you would collide with firm matter which on several occasions jostled the device sufficiently to drop the phase. Two atom filled objects trying to occupy the same space? Needless to say the results were nothing less than catastrophic. Hence the phase shifters were designed to create said radius about the user so that they could pass the objects themselves and any dimensional constraints would be immediately apparent prior to passing through phases. But as I said, it only worked on _stationary_ objects. It could have phased Blades and Taylor, but then what would have isolated their personality essence, or in Blades' case this 'spark' they speak of, and moved them?"

"So you think somehow, not only did the devices become active, but they somehow _conspired_ with one another to make this mess?" Chief arched an eyebrow skeptically. He had learned to expect anything since first moving here, but even this was a bit extreme.

"Not so much conspiracy, as linked electromagnetic pulses. Four of the six crates had very small, circular black singes on one or more sides." Doc Greene gestured over to the wall where the disassembled crate walls were propped up. "I believe lightning struck, and the surge of power not only powered on the devices, but created a unique chained conglomerate reaction resulting in an entirely new device essentially. The key now is to identify which four devices were enclosed in these particular crates, and the precise order in which they were activated."

"And what would happen if we get the order wrong?"

"Let's just leave it at we _have_ to get the order right, Dad." Graham sighed as he looked up from the schematics he was analyzing. "The wrong order... well we're trying hard not to think about it."

Chief nodded. It didn't take a scientist to figure out that the wrong steps could be disastrous. While Taylor's situation was definitely throwing a wrench into everything he had previously believed from his Christian upbringing, the bots were at least something concrete. Their spark was an actual physical thing. Disembodying it entirely and leaving it exposed without a host...

He had attempted to broach the subject with Chase, but his normally stoic bot's reaction spoke of a horror that could not be surpassed. He'd never seen Chase rush from a room like that before.

_/Dad... There's an emergency call coming in from the marina.../_

"Roger that Cody. Kade, grab Heatwave and meet me down there. Chase, meet me outside." Chief Burns never let his calm facade slip, despite the fact that the marina usually meant a water rescue, and their air support was in the midst of a major personality crisis. Turning, he strode rapidly from the makeshift research center Graham and Doc had set up amidst all of the Cybertronian scanners, back into the hanger bay where Dani immediately accosted him.

"Dad, Bla- I mean I can still help. Just drop me off at the airport and I'll grab my old rescue chopper from the hanger there."

"No way Dani. Even I can't let you do that." Taylor interjected as he clambered back to his feet, using the wall as a brace to help the bot rise. "I know I was the last person who serviced that machine, and that was well over six months ago. You can't rely on that alone. A lot can happen, even in storage."

"He's right Dani." Her Father shrugged helplessly in apology. "I can't risk you going out and then needing a rescue yourself."

"Fine. Taylor can fly. All he has to do is transform and I'll do the rest manually."

"Absolutely not. Being a pilot and being a bot are two completely different things. Besides, have you thought about asking Blades how _he_ would feel about you two taking off in _his_ body? Anything that happens to either one of them right now could seriously impact when and even if they can be returned to normal." The Chief's somber gaze moved from each face in the room. "It's one thing to go up with your partner. It's another to go up with half of him. I'm sorry Dani, but you're going to have to wait this one out. This discussion is closed. Let's go Chase."

The police-bot shrugged apologetically at his friends before he followed the Chief to the lift. Dani silently glared daggers into both of their backs until she was certain they had left the building entirely then turned a sly eye up to her bot.

"Come on boys... We're going flying."

"But the Chief just sa-"

"I know what he said Blades. He said I couldn't go up with just _half_ of you... That's why you're coming too." Dani reached over and snatched Taylor's hand and pulled the man-bot unsteadily to his feet. "Just explain to Taylor how to transform, and you'll be right there in the cab with me for the entire rescue."

"Dani I don't think this is a good idea... I mean... What if he crashes me? Or squishes me while I'm in him? Or what if... what if I leak again all over my upholstery!"

Boulder fidgeted anxiously as Blades protestations grew further and further away as the lift took them up to the helipad. Taylor certainly hadn't helped matters... The bot's eyes had downright lit up at the thought of going for a flight as the helicopter instead of as the pilot.

For once, he had a deep, dark feeling in the heart of his spark chamber that Blades might be worried with very good reason.


End file.
